bill_mussett1

<p>Denis,</p>

<p>I assume you want to stay with a lightbox style viewer. The links below are to several javascript lightbox style image viewers. You know some HTML, and they're well documented, so you shouldn't have trouble incorporating any of them. You do not need to know javascript. Since you have different categories of images on your site, you could use a thumbnail of each category on your homepage as a link to the image viewer for that category. There's no real limit to the number of categories/viewers you could use.</p>

<p>http://www.lokeshdhakar.com/projects/lightbox2/</p>

<p>http://www.shadowbox-js.com/index.html</p>

<p>http://fancybox.net/example</p>

<p>http://colorpowered.com/colorbox/</p>

 

<p>Isline,</p>

<p>My guess is you have a depth-of-field issue causing loss of sharpness. I took a look at the EXIF data for your second photo and it showed a focal length of 97mm and an aperture of f/5. I can only make a rough guess at the distance from where you were standing when you took the photo to the train, and I guessed 20 feet (6 meters). This would give you a depth-of-field of 4 feet (~1.2 meters).</p>

<p>You're using a zoom lens, so my suggestion would be to shoot at a wider focal length which will increase the depth-of-field. At 97mm and f/22 at 20 feet you'll still only have a depth-of-field of 22 feet (~6.7 meters). Whereas at 50mm, f/11 at 20 feet to the train you'd have a depth-of-field of 100 feet (~30.5 meters).</p>

<p>I used information from the link below to get the depth-of-field information. Use it to experiment with various combinations of focal length, aperture and distance to subject. If you have an iPhone or iPod, PhotoCalc, among others, has a depth-of-field calculator.</p>

<p>http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html</p>

<p>Sean,</p>

<p>Two suggestions for you would be to first wait until you start the class and get an understanding of what you may need. Secondly, a call to B&H should answer your trigger/transmitter question.</p>

<p>Ryan,</p>

<p>You've got a generally clean lay-out, which I appreciate. I'm not sure though if the times displayed are for when you took each photo, or when they were uploaded. I could figure it out, but then why should I have too? My point is don't clutter the lay-out with irrelevant information. I do like the day/month/year information; it tells me your blog has not been abandoned, as so many are. Another item I had trouble with is the "tagged as" captions. You have a caption under all the thumbnail images I saw, so I don't understand the point of a second, redundant caption and a second display of the same image unless you want to add information such as your EXIF data as a technical caption for optional viewing. Lastly, you've included full-size images which anyone could easily remove from your site and use. It's your choice to include a full-size image online, but few photographers do. Consider including a discrete copyright line on your large images and copyright info. in your Metadata if you haven't already.</p>

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<p>One thing; disable the Capture One noise reduction, it's horrible and operates on both color and luminance noise thresholds. Disable it by adjusting the sliders to zero</p>

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<p>There was an issue in a late version of Capture One 4 in which noise reduction was automatically over-applied to high ISO images. To their credit Phase One listened to the complaints and corrected it. I'm using Capture 5 Pro and have not noticed a recurrence of that issue. Instead of zeroing-out the default noise reduction settings, add a preset for zero settings. I also added presets for a couple of recurring high ISO settings I use with the same lighting.</p>

<p>Since you already own Lightroom, Phil's suggestion sounds like the way for you to go. I don't know if Phase One will ever offer a cataloging add-on. I use a Mac and other than possibly iPhoto, I'm unaware of a photo-specific, cataloging-only program for the Mac.</p>

Stairway, Archway, Hallway, Highway; any way you choose!<div></div>

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<p>Thomas,</p>

<p>Sheldon's link is a great read and explains the reasoning for exposing for the highlights; that means a histogram that shows more information to the right of center. Not always possible, but that's why you shoot RAW.</p>

<p>The link below from the same site is worth reading to help understand the information your histogram shows you:</p>

<p>http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml</p>

<p>Claudio,</p>

<p>Consider an HTML/CSS site using javascript to display the images. Javascript is iPhone friendly, if that's a concern. Flash sites do look good, but they tend to load slowly and as you already realize are not search engine friendly. Some photographers offer a selection on their homepage of viewing either a Flash or HTML version of their images; and of course the homepage is HTML. And if you do decide to blog, keep it current and relevant to what a prospective customer would want to read.</p>

<p>Bennett,</p>

<p>Based upon your requirements you might want to take a look at Smugmug and similar offerings. Or you could build it yourself with a Flash gallery and separate pages for your other requirements. You may also want search the Weddings & Events postings on Photo.net for other website providers. Many wedding photographers have the same requirements for a site as you do.</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/</p>

<p>I'm unable to trial test Shozam because I'm on a Mac, but as for a model-specific site almost any program that displays photos would seem to be appropriate. It really comes down to how you want the photos displayed; click-on thumbnails, automatic rotation through a selection of photos, etc. If you have even basic HTML/CSS programing skills you should have no problem creating a custom Home page for each model with links to a gallery of photos or multiple galleries if photographs need to be categorized.</p>

<p>From a business standpoint you may even want to offer two or more levels of websites; think good, better, best. Good of course being bare-bones basic and best including whatever bells and whistles you might want to offer, such as an email contact form, etc. Include registering domain names and hosting for them in all your services. In other words be a one-stop-shop. Check-out models websites to see what they offer. And do include a discrete link on their websites to your website as the photographer.</p>

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<p>I don't understand the purpose of your site other than as a showcase of various people and events you've photographed or videoed. I assume your intent for the site is more artistic than to produce revenue. If it is meant to produce revenue I'm not sure who your intended audience is, but addressing who your intended audience is and showcasing how your talents can fulfill their need is critical. Your wedding photographs are very good and if your intended market is engaged couples looking for a wedding photographer, build a site just for them.</p>

<p>Wedding photographers seem to like Smugmug. I'm not familiar with it, but I believe you can set your own pricing. A watermark along with posting low resolution images should help minimize theft of images. I believe galleries can also be password protected.</p>

<p>You may want to read through some of the posts in the Wedding & Events forum on Photo.net for more suggestions:</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/</p>

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<p>Lorraine,</p>

<p>Once you have your food and lights set-up use a gray card in the first shot and <em>always</em> shoot RAW. The combination of a gray card and RAW will help tremendously in getting the correct color temperature and therefore food color when you post-process your images. If you change your lighting you'll need to re-shoot a gray card. Gray cards are available at any camera store (you're in NYC so head over to B&H for one).</p>

<p>P.S.: I took a look at your website, and the copy on the first page was skewed so far over to the right I had to scroll to read it with-out looking at only the brick wall pattern. The remaining pages I looked at were centered properly.</p>

<p>Archival digital is an oxymoron. One manufacturer, Epson I believe, claims 80 year longevity in <em>testing</em> of their archival ink and paper. If the well-known Brady photographs of the Civil War had been digital, they would faded long ago.</p>

<p>Ted has the right idea, inform customers of how to display and/or store their images for longest possible enjoyment.</p>

<p>You're welcome, Durr.</p>

<p>I should have also mentioned there are a number of video tutorials on Phase One's website. They are for Capture One 5 Pro, but the basics are the same for Pro and Standard versions.</p>

<p>http://www.phaseone.com/Software/Capture-One-5-Pro/Pro-Tutorials.aspx</p>

 

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<p>Durr,</p>

 

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<p>how do I save as...</p>

 

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<p>Your adjustments are saved as you make them; in the lower right corner of the thumbnail image you've adjusted you'll see a small square with three horizontal lines, that indicates adjustments have been made to that image.</p>

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<p>and rename...</p>

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<p>You can rename for output on the processing screen; click the icon that looks like a gear. In the section labeled Output Naming you can give your image any alphanumeric name you wish, or leave it as your camera has numbered it. In that same section you tell Capture One where you want the image to be placed. On the line Output To click-on the box with the three dots [...] and a screen will pop-up allowing you to create a new folder, if you want, or select an existing folder as where you want the image(s) output to.</p>

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<p>resize...etc?</p>

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<p>By resizing I assume you mean the actual size of the output image as opposed to cropping. The resizing for actual size is in the same section (clicking-on the gear icon) as Output Naming in its own section labeled Process Recipe. This is where all size settings and file type (JPG, TIF, DNG) are made.</p>

<p>The best way to learn Capture One, like most things is to use it. Icons in the top two rows have labels which will show if you place your cursor over an icon. As you use the program their meaning will become second nature. But definitely read through the User Guide to familiarize yourself with all the program offers.</p>

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<p>One current trend in food photography is to simply use natural light. For individual items set-up a table either near a window or outdoors and use a reflector or two and/or a diffusion screen to soften harsh light. Using artificial lighting will of course give you many more options. Take a look too at this food-specific lighting theme on Photo.net:</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/photography-lighting-equipment-techniques-forum/009xtA</p>